Leader Kim
Jong-Un has ordered North Korea's nuclear arsenal readied for pre-emptive use
at any time, in an expected ramping up of rhetoric following the UN Security Council's
adoption of tough new sanctions on Pyongyang.
The North's nuclear warheads must be deployed "on standby so as to be fired at any moment," Kim was quoted as saying by the North's official KCNA news agency on Friday.
Kim also warned that the situation on the divided Korean peninsula had become so dangerous that the North needed to shift its military strategy to one of "pre-emptive attack".
Such bellicose rhetoric is almost routine for North Korea at times of elevated tensions.
While the North is known to have a small stockpile of nuclear warheads, experts are divided about its ability to mount them on a working missile delivery system.
According to KCNA, Kim made his comments while monitoring the test firing of a new, high-calibre multiple rocket launchers on Thursday; just hours after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted the US-drafted resolution penalising the North for its fourth nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch last month.
South Korea's defence ministry said the North had fired half a dozen rockets about 100-150 kilometres (60-90 miles) into the sea off its eastern coast on Thursday.
In a clear threat to neighbouring South Korea, Kim said the new rocket launcher should be "promptly deployed" along with other "recently-developed" weaponry.
In the wake of the "gangster-like" UN resolution pushed by the
United States and its South Korean ally, North Koreans are now "waiting
for an order of combat to annihilate the enemy with their surging wrath,"
he added.
The
resolution adopted by the Security Council late Wednesday laid out the toughest
sanctions imposed on Pyongyang to date over its nuclear weapons programme that
will, if implemented effectively, apply significant economic pressure to Kim's
regime.
It breaks
new ground by sanctioning specific sectors key to the North Korean economy -such
as mineral exports - and seeking to undermine the North's use of and access to
international transport systems.
Kim said the
resolution had opened a "very dangerous phase", coming just days
before the US and South Korea kick off annual joint military drills that
Pyongyang views as provocative rehearsals for invasion.
The
exercises involving tens of thousands of troops are scheduled to begin on
Monday.
Wednesday's
Security Council resolution ushered in the fifth set of UN sanctions to hit
North Korea since it first tested an atomic device in 2006, and was the result
of arduous negotiations between the US and China, Pyongyang's sole major ally.
China had
been reluctant to endorse harsh sanctions out of concern that too much pressure
would trigger the collapse of the pariah regime, creating chaos on its border.
The
sanctions Beijing finally signed off on are extremely tough on paper, but
experts have warned that some of the language is vague enough to allow varying
levels of enforcement.
US President
Barack Obama welcomed the measures as "a firm, united, and appropriate
response" to the January 6 nuclear test and February 7 rocket launch.
"The
international community, speaking with one voice, has sent Pyongyang a simple
message: North Korea must abandon these dangerous programs and choose a better
path for its people," Obama said.